1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting card-like articles that is incorporated in a culler-facer-canceller for processing mail, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
On a conventional culler-facer-canceller that processes transported mail, such information as stamps, metered marks, pre-printed indicia, etc. pasted/written on prescribe positions are determined. In addition, physical properties of mail, for instance, size, thickness, etc. are also determined. While mail processing speed is being increased and kinds of mail are more and more diversified in these days, in order to realize these functions there is an apparatus for transporting card-like articles provided with a mechanism to prevent overlapped mail from being transported. This apparatus is in such a construction as described below.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, on an apparatus 1 for transporting mail P, a pair of transport belts 5a are put over a plurality of rollers 3a and a pair of transport belts 5b are put over a plurality of rollers 3b. The transport belts 5a transport mail P being held between the pair of transport belts 5a in an A direction. The transport belts 5b transport mail P being held between the pair of transport belts 5b in a B direction. There is a first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7 having a prescribed curvature on its adsorbing surface arranged between the first transport path 4a and the second transport path 4b. A transporting path having a prescribed curvature is formed by these transport belts 5a, 5b and the first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7. The first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7 adsorbs a mail P transported from the direction A by a pair of the transport belts 5a and sends out the mail P in the direction B via a pair of the transport belts 5b. Opposing to the first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7 and with a prescribed space, there is a second adsorbing vacuum chamber 7' having a flat. adsorbing surface is arranged. In addition, there is a reject chute 9 provided on the extension of the second adsorbing vacuum chamber 7' The reject chute 9 is to store the mail P', which has not been transported by the first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7 and the belts 5b, for rejecting after the mail P' is separated from the mail P which has been transported with the mail P' in overlapped state.
On such an apparatus for transporting card-like articles as described above, if mails P and P' are transported in the overlapped state from the direction A, the mail P is adsorbed by the first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7 and transported in the direction B via the belts 5b. On the other hand, the mail P' is adsorbed by the second adsorbing vacuum chamber 7', separated from the mail P by the curvature of the first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7 and rigidity of the mail P' and transported into the reject box 9. This storage into the reject box 9 prevents a plurality of mail from being transported to the latter stage.
However, on such the apparatus for transporting card-like articles as this, if a plurality of mail were off-set and overlapped in the transporting direction, all mail was adsorbed by the first adsorbing vacuum chamber 7 and transported to the belts 5b in the latter stage. Therefore, it was difficult to completely prevent overlapped mail from being transported.
As described above, on a conventional apparatus for transporting card-like articles, if mail is taken out in the off-set and overlapped state, all of them are transported together and therefore, it was difficult to prevent them from being transported to the latter stage.